Customer Reviews

Senator Was Indiscreet [VHS]

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I love this movie. Powell plays a boob of a senator who wants to become president because he isn't qualified to do anything else. Among his classic lines: "If you can't beat 'em....bribe 'em!" I think one of the funnier bits is when he embarks on a coast-to-coast tour to announce that he is NOT a candidate for president. Among the tidbits is a placcard that says Sen. Ashton is "against INflation, against DEflation, but FOR flation." The politicians go into a panic when his diary, that includes all the shenanigans that have been pulled over the years, is stolen. Ella Raines is quite fetching as the reporter that tries to find the diary before the politicians get it back. I doubt there's anything in that diary that hasn't been revealed about real-life politicians in the 1990s. Parts are a bit dated (like reporter Raines going steady with the senator's campaign manager, which is a conflict that would get a reporter fired nowadays), but a lot of the digs at the political system are as true today as they were then.

Another crime is being committed by not having this wonderful late forties political satire restored and transferred to DVD. It along with Genevieve, The Male Animal, A Slight Case of Murder, Larceny Inc., It's in the Bag, Ball of Fire, The Jackpot, Sitting Pretty, No Highway in the Sky, (currently) A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse and many, many other classic and even important films are slipping away without anyone ever knowing about them. A movie not on DVD doesn't stand much of a chance to be seen and when the transfer is poor, as in the case of Champagne for Caesar, its chances are still slim-to-none.

The Senator Was Indiscreet is one of those classic, and even important, films. It's a hysterically irreverent look party-line politics. Unfortunately, the buffoonery poked at here is all too prevalent in the politics of today.

Mel Ashton (William Powell) is one those rhetoric spewing blowhards whose pitch as gotten him a string of terms with seemingly no end. That is until one day when he holds a press conference to declare that if asked he will not seek the office of the president. This of course is a no-no among his party line as it is a clear indication that he intents to run (ala Perot). His party comes after him with intentions of burying him until they find out he has a daily journal with years and years of dirty dealings with all the names and numbers. So, they let him run his campaign until they can get their mitts on the book. Peter Lind Hayes becomes his campaign manager knowing he doesn't stand a chance and knows that once the whole thing blows over the party will owe him one. Although, he's a better manager than realizes and when it becomes a race his zealousness unwittingly takes over his better judgment. At this his girl friend, an investigative reporter (Ella Raines), is alarmed enough to do something about it.

This is a terrific movie barely seen nowadays. It's has a wonderful cast, sharp dialog, multiple subplots and arguably Powell's best role ever. That might tick off a lot of Nick Charles fans but this role is a far cry from one-note, wisecracking, alcoholic of The Thin Man that had him pigeon-holed for so many years. He could really show his comedy prowess as the pompous and at the same time self-conscious Mel "Ashcan".

If you haven't seen the movie but the plot seems vaguely familiar you may be thinking of the Cheers episode where Fraser get Woody elected to the city council. This movie is obviously its inspiration.

William Powell plays a dumb-bunny US Senator who gets the idea in his head to run for President. He promises the public a 3-day workweek with 8 days pay and other ludicrous things, and looks like a shoe-in. But for years he's kept a diary in which he's recorded all sorts of crooked deals and scandalous stuff, and the night before the convention it gets stolen. When it's published, half of Washington is seen leaving for places unknown. The political satire is pretty well laid on here (it should have even been stronger), and why it's not shown more on TV is hard to figure. It's not at all a bitter brand of satire either, which is an indication of the innocence of the times (in terms of what was revealed about politicians, not that politicians were more innocent). George S. Kaufman directed.

A brilliant comedy long overdue for release on DVD. The final scene of the movie also provides a wonderful capstone to William Powell and Myrna Loy's long on-screen partnership.

It manages to be highly offensive to Native Americans & women in the first few minutes. No matter, it was 1947 & nobody cared about such things.
William Powell, highly disguised, hams it up as Senator Melvin Ashton, a dim, corrupt, basically harmless politician, until he decides to run for President. He loses his highly confidential diary in which he has written down everything about everybody.
Chaos ensues in the search for the missing diary.
A gentle satire on the press, big city political machines, (they resemble nothing so much as "the mob" in this movie) & the corrupt small brained politicians with no talent we still seem to keep reelecting. A bit dated, to be sure, but still relevant & good for a laugh.